Device for lowering of life boats and the like



J. BERGH.-

DEVICE FOR LOWERING OF LIFE BOATS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY15, 1918.

1,323,734. Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

2 SHEETS-$HEET I- J. BERGH.

DEVICE FOR LOWERING OF LIFE BOATS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY15, 1918.

1 323 734. Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- FFIC JENS BERGI-I, OF DEAMMEN, NORWAY.

DEVICE FOR LOWERING 0F LIFE-BOATS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2 1919.

Application filed May 15, 1918. Serial No; 234,774.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1. Jews BERGH, a subject of the King of Norway,residing at Drammen, Norway, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in and Relating to Devices for Lowering of Life-Boats andthe like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for lowering and hoistinglife boatsand the like in connection with a ship so that when desired they may belowered into the water or raised from the water and drawn inboard.

The object of the invention is a form of apparatus of this character inwhich, when the chocks or other devices for supporting the boat areremoved, the boat isadapted,

owing to its own weight, by means of the;

davits to be swung automatically outboard, and wherein the lowering andthe regulation of the speed at which the boat is lowered iscontrolledentirely from the boat.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for hoistingup the boat so that it can be replaced on board. for stance after atrial lowering or on any oil?- occasion.

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrateone embodiment of an apparatus constructed ac-" cording to theinvention, and in which,

Figure l is a side view of one of the davits and the means for loweringthe boat which is shown as being supported by the davit.

Fig. 2 is a View of the same device as seen from the right hand of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view partly in eleva tionthrough the brakingapparatus and the means that are used for releasing the boat from thewire or rope by means of which the boat is suspended from the davits.

Fig. 4 is an end view of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on a line taken through the releasingapparatus when the parts are in gripping or engaged position.

In carrying the invention into efi'ect the davits of which, asusual,-two for each boat are employed, are each mounted in a frame 1,which in any suitable manner is secured to the deck with the davitspivoted'on a journal or axle 2 in the upper end of each The davits areeach i arranged upon a shaft 10 and-thisv is sup;

of the said frames.

formed as a double crank lever, the part 4:

of which is slotted as at 5, in which the journal or axle 2 is guided orengaged. The

outerpa'rt 6 of the crank lever is angular and forms a shoulder 7 whichisadapted, dur ng the lowering of the boat to bear against the frame 1.The upper end of the part 6 is suitably for the purpose provided withrollers 8 and 9 or the like. The length of the different parts of thedavit in combination with the arrangement of the said davit on-the deck,are'so selected-that during lowering, the boat will pass clear of theside of the ship.

The device acts in the following manner: When the boat is manned thechocksare removed as usual, whereupon the weight of the boat will act onthe davit through the wire or rope which will accordingly be unwoundfrom the roller 13 and wound upon a roller 12, the braking apparatus inthe boat being in advance so adjusted as to give any suitable or desiredspeed-for lowering. The dav-its at the same time will swing upon thejournal or axle 2 until the shoulder 7 comes into contact with the frame1, whereupon the journal 2 will serve as a guide to the movingpart 4: ofthe davit, then moving relatively by means of its slot 5 to the journal2 until the upper part of the davit has reached anormal horizontalposition, as in dicated in dotted lines. During these two movements ofthe davit, the roller 32, sliding ring 34, and theroller 31 are rotatedand their method of operation is hereinafter described. The objectof thetwo movements of the davit as above described is to insure that the boatin swingingoutboard and being lowered will not contact with the side ofthe ship.

At each end of the boat the lowering device together with the davit areprovided and these lowering devices principally consist in a rollersystem which is hereinafter described and are arranged upon a shaft 10,which in a known manner, by means of a clutch deviceor the like isconnected with a driving device such a motor or the like (not shown inthedrawings), and the saidmotor which is to be used only for thehoisting of the boat is preferably placed between two boats, arrangedend to end so that it can be connected to each of the shafts of therespective lowering devices for each of the boats.

As before mentioned, the roller system is ported by bearingsll, arrangedupon the deck or at any other convenient part ofthe ship. The bearingsare arranged-preferably differential diameters'ofthe rollers 12 and twoon each side of each roll system, and one in the middle between the rollsystems. Each of these comprise the rollers 12 and 13 which are keyedupon the shaft 10, the diameter of the said rollers being so arrangedthat the weight of the boat, owing to their difference in size willefi'ect the desired action of lowering the boat. Around these rollers 12and 13, there is wound a wire the ends of which are attached to therollers 12 and 13 respectively. The wire runs from the roller 12, overthe roller 8 at the top of the davit, and from thencedown to the roller14 in the braking apparatus which is mounted in one end of the boat.From the roller 14: the wire then passes back to thesecond roller 9 atthe top of the davit and finally, tothesecond roller 13 to which theother end of the wire is attached.

When the boat is disconnected or unshipped so as to hang in the davitsand upon the wire by means of its whole weight, the

13 will effect the lowering of the boat, the larger roller 12 unwindingmuch more wire for each revolution than can be wound upon the smallerroller 13. During this operation 7 the motor'above referred to isdisconnected boat from the braking apparatus after it since as beforestated, this motor is only used for hoisting the boat inboard.

The speed at which lowering occurs can be regulated from the boat bymeans of a braking apparatus, see Fig. 3, which comprises a groovedroller 14,-around which passes the wireor rope from the rollers 12 and13. The latter is adapted to pass'twice' between metal blocks 15, 16 and17 arranged a short distance above the roller 14 and i has reached thewater the braking apparatus is fitted with a special releasing devicemounted on the boat. As is well known an ordinary hook isused forreleasing theboat,

. but as it is diflicult to-obtaingthe'necessaiy slack on the wire bywhich the boat is suspended, and as it is very important that the boatshall be releasedjust as quickly as pos sible,.a modified arrangementhas been designed for efi'ecting this purpose and which will now bedescribed. The releasing apparatus comprises two'parts of which'one partas mentioned, is mounted on or attached to the boat and the other partis attached to and formed as one piece together with the brakingapparatus. As is seen in Fig. 3 the part which is attached to the boat,consists of an angular arm 20, one end'of which in a suitable manner isattached to the end of the boat, the other end 21 of the said arm beingprovided with the part 2 1, that can be rotated by means of a handle 22and which is provided with a stop 23. The hori zontal part 21 and theend of the upper arm 20 is designed to engage with avcylindrical openingin the other part of the releasing apparatus and the stop 23 engages:with a hole 27' in the casing 28 which is placed in the opening 26 sothat it can be rotated; The casing is guided by'two bolts 29. When thestop 23 is placed in the hole 27 and the handle 22 is rotated so thatthe hole 27 will be in its lowest position, the releasing device will belocked and the handle 22 can be held in its position by any suitablemeans.

It will be understood that it is only nec- V essary to use one of thebraking devices in the boat as all of the rollers of the same boat aremounted upon a common shaft.

When the boat is to be hoisted the shaft 10 is, connected to the motorwhich is not herein shown. The boat is then hoisted in such a way thatthe wire which is attached to the boat is wound around the larger roller13 and at the same time unwound from the smaller roller 12. The hoistingin this manner takes place until the lower arm 6 of the davit is swungup. By means of a clutch device 30 in this manner the roller 31, whichslides on the shaft 10 and on which a wire 31 is running, is connected.One end of this wire 31 is attached to the said roller and its other endis passed through a pur- 100 chase-block on the deck and attached at asuitable point, for instance, at the point i on the moving part of thedavit; On the shaft 10 there is however provided a keyed roller 32 whichis grooved circumferentially. Between the rollers last mentioned asliding ring 3a is provided, to a projection 35 on which there isattached one end of a wire 31 which is hooked in the groove 33 and woundupon the roller 32. The other end of this wire 31- passes through apurchase block and is attached at a suitable point, for; iinstance, thepoint 3 of a moving part of the avit; i i

'VVhen the clutch device 30 is brought or moved into engaging positionthe slot 5 in the part 4 of the davit will slide on the j ourv nal 2owing to the drawing power in the wire 31 attached at -the point 3; Theshoulder 7 will thereupon act as a center of r'otation, and slack in thewire which is attached to the sliding ringis thereby obtained, whereuponthis wire is hooked in the groove 5 '33 in the ring 32, which roller atfirst cooperates with the hoisting and then effects the last part ofthis movement alone; During the final swing of the davit by which thejournal 2 serves as a center of rotation the sliding roller 31 must bedisconnected so that it shall not prevent the movement, The'boat is nowin its proper place inboardand the chocks can be placed underneath itasusual. The proper moment for the connecting in of the roller 31 can bemarked, for instance by an easily perceptible mark or device on the wirefor'the rollers 12 and 13.

During the lowering of the boat the roller 32 rotates togetherwith theshaft whereby all the wire will be wound off the said roller. Then thewire slips out of the groove while the ring 34 continues sliding on theshaft and it is of no consequence whether the roller 31 is connected tothe shaft or not. During this movement the davit consequently is loweredto its lowest position, the shoulder 7 bearing against the davit frame.

What Ivclaim is: I

1. Apparatus for lowering and hoisting life-boats comprising incombination a pair of davits, each formed as a double armed lever onearm of which is slotted, a frame for supporting each davit, a journal oraxle on the frame constituting a fulcrum for each double armed lever, aprojecting knee portion on the other arm of the double armed leveradapted to bear against the frame so that the davit may in its movementfirst swing upon its fulcrum as a center of rotation and afterward swingupon its projecting knee as a second center of rotation, a means forsuspending the boat in the davits and means for lowering and hoistingthe boat from the davits. I

2. Apparatus for lowering and hoisting life boats comprising incombination a pair of davits each formed as a double armed lever one armof which is slotted, a frame for supporting each davit, a journal oraxle on the frame constituting a fulcrum for each double armed lever, aprojecting knee portion on the other arm of the double armed leveradapted to bear against the frame so that the davit may in its movementfirst swing upon its fulcrum as a center of rotation and afterward swingupon its projecting knee as a second center of rotation, wires forsuspending a boat from the davits a large and a small roller on the shipto which the respective ends of the wires are attached and means on theboat and on the davits over which the intermediate parts of the wiresare passed, so that upon lowering the boat the wire iswound from thelarge roller and wound upon the smaller roller.

'3. Apparatus for lowering and hoisting life boats comprising incombination a pair ofdavits, each formed as a double armed lever one armof which is slotted, a frame for supporting each davit, a journal oraxle on the frame constituting a fulcrum for each double armed lever,-aprojecting knee portion on the other arm of the double armed leveradapted to bear against the frame so that the davit may in its movementfirst swing upon its fulcrum as a ccnterof rotation and afterward swingupon its'projecting knee as a second center of rotation, wires forsuspending a boat from tl18-(lt"ll$ a large and a small second roller onthe ship to which the respective ends of the wires are attached, meanson the boat and on the davits' over which the intermediate parts of thewires are. passed sothat upon lowering the boat the wire is wound fromthe larger roller and wound upon the smaller roller, and a braking.device on the boat for controlling the lowering of the boat and itsspeed.

4:. Apparatus for lowering and hoisting life boats comprising incombination a pair of davits each formed as a double armed lever one armof which is slotted, a frame for supporting each davit, ajournal or axleon the frame constituting a fulcrum for each double armed lever, aprojecting knee portion on the other arm of the double armed leveradapted to bear against the frame so that the davit may in its movementfirst swing upon its fulcrum as a center of rotation and afterward swingupon its projecting knee as a second center of rotation, wires forsuspending a'boat from the davits a large and a small second roller onthe ship to which the respective ends of the wires are attached, meanson the boat and on the davits over which the intermediate parts of thewires are passed so that upon lowering the boat the wire is wound fromthe larger roller and wound upon the smaller roller,

and means for readily releasing the boat from the suspending wires whenlowered.

5. Apparatus for lowering and hoisting life boats comprising incombination a pair of davits each formed as a double armed lever one armof which is slotted, a frame for supporting each davit, a journal oraxle on the frame constituting a fulcrum for each double armed lever, aprojecting knee portion on the other arm of the double armed leveradapted to bear against the frame so that the davit may in its movementfirst swing upon its fulcrum as a center of rotation and afterwardswmgupon its pro ecting knee as a second center of rotation, wires forsuspending both ends of the boat from the davits, a pair of large andsmall winding rollers on the ship to which the ends of the respectivewires are fastened, a grooved roller detachably mounted at each end ofthe boat to receive the intermediate portion of each wire, and meansmounted in the boat at the ends thereof for exerting a braking pressureon the wires.

6. Apparatus for lowerin life boats comprising in com iination a pair ofdavits each formed as a double armed 1e ver one arm of which is slotted,a frame for supporting'each davit, a journal or axle on 'the frameconstituting a fulcrum for each and hoisting double armed lever, aprojecting knee portion on the other arm of the double armed leveradapted to bear against the frame so that the davit may in its movementfirst swing upon its fulcrum as a center of rotation and afterward swingupon its projecting knee as a second center of rotation, wires forsuspending a boat from the clavits a large and a small second roller onthe ship to which the respective ends of the wires are attached, meanson the boat and on the davits over which the intermediate parts of thewires are passed so that upon lowering the boat the wire is wound fromthe large roller and wound upon the smaller roller, a

braking device on the boat for controlling the lowering thereof and itsspeed and means for releasing the boat when lowered, the upper part ofthe releasing device being constructed in one withthe said brakingdevice.

v 7. Apparatus for the purpose described are fastened, means whereby theboat is.

lowered by differentially winding and unwinding the wires, a poweroperated wind ing device, cables extending therefrom to one end of thepivoted davit and anchored at the other end, means whereby the poweroperated winding device raises the boat, which device may be clutchedto, the power drive when it is desired to cause the-ClitVltS to pivot ontheir fulcra for the purpose of drawlng the boat inboard when itis'raised'.

sufficiently.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

Jens Barren.

